Public Sector Debt Statistics

Source details

Target audience:
- Officials whose main responsibility is compiling and disseminating public sector debt statistics.
Qualifications:
- Some knowledge of economics and macroeconomic statistics is helpful.
- Access to a computer with a reliable Internet connection and a Google Chrome web browser and basic Microsoft Excel skills are essential.

Purpose:
- Covers the fundamentals needed to compile and disseminate comprehensive public sector debt statistics (PSDS) useful for policy- and decision-makers, as well as other users.
Conceptual framework:
- Introduces the conceptual statistical framework for PSDS as presented in the Public Sector Debt Statistics: Guide for Compilers and Users.
- Presents PSDS in the context of the government finance statistics (GFS) framework, which is harmonized with other macroeconomic statistical frameworks.
Core topics and coverage:
- Basic concepts, definitions, and classifications relevant to PSDS.
- Principal accounting rules (including valuation and consolidation) relevant for PSDS compilation.
- Recommended instrument and institutional coverage for compiling comprehensive, internationally comparable PSDS.
- Recording of contingent liabilities such as government guarantees.
- Impact on PSDS of debt-related issues: debt assumption, debt forgiveness, on-lending, financial leases, and financial bailouts.
- Important PSDS compilation considerations, including what PSDS to compile and disseminate, and the IMF’s guidelines and standards on disseminating PSDS.
- Possible uses of PSDS, including Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA), and fiscal risk and vulnerability analyses.

Upon completion of the course, participants should be able to:

Explain the essence of the GFS framework and how it relates to public sector debt statistics.
Apply the main macroeconomic principles to determine what is considered to be debt in the accounts of the debtor.
Apply the main macroeconomic principles to determine who is the debtor, classify the debtor appropriately inside or outside the public sector, and identify the types of counterparties to the debt instruments.
Use the principal macroeconomic accounting rules to compile public sector debt statistics.
Compile a comprehensive and internationally comparable public sector debt statistics report, with supplementary tables, that is suitable for fiscal policymaking and analyses.
Explain the importance of comprehensive, consistent, and comparable public sector debt statistics in various facets of fiscal policymaking, including Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA).